http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/31/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE9BT0D720131231 Stocks closed out their best year in more than 15 on Tuesday, with major indexes advancing throughout 2013 on the back of the Federal Reserve's massive stimulus and expectations for accelerating growth going forward. Wall Street ended 2013 with its positive momentum intact, advancing in its final trading day of the year on the back of positive consumer confidence data. The S&P 500 rose 29.6 percent over the year, its best annual performance since 1997, while the Dow climbed 26.5 percent in its best year since 1995. The Nasdaq jumped 38.3 percent, its best year since 2009. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 finished the final trading day of 2013 at record closing highs. In a sign of improving sentiment, the CBOE Volatility Index .VIX or VIX fell 23.9 percent over the year, the biggest annual drop for the so-called "fear index" since 2009. All 10 S&P 500 sector indexes ended the year with gains as investors rode the Fed's extraordinary stimulus in a year that had only the slightest of hiccups. Wall Street even weathered a partial shutdown of the U.S. government, as well as the recent announcement that the Fed would trim its monthly bond purchases in response to an improving economic picture. "This has been a terrific year, with all the concerns we had in January (2013) proving unfounded, and with current economic growth giving us a strong outlook for 2014," said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. Trading volume was once again light in U.S. markets, which will be closed Wednesday for the New Year's holiday. Still, investors found reasons to buy after a read on consumer confidence rose more than expected in December. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.2 percent in October from September, but posted the strongest annualized gain in October in more than seven years. "There's been a generally positive trend to news, including the confidence report, which bodes well for conditions next year and gives us really no reason to sell," said Carey, who helps oversee $220 billion in assets. About 63 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher for the day, while 55 percent of the shares traded on the Nasdaq ended in positive territory. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 72.37 points, or 0.44 percent, to end at 16,576.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX advanced 7.29 points, or 0.40 percent, to finish at 1,848.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 22.39 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 4,176.59. The Dow also touched an all-time intraday high of 16,588.25 on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 set a record intraday peak of 1,849.44. In the fourth quarter, the Dow rose 9.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained 9.9 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 10.7 percent. In December alone, the Dow advanced 3 percent, the S&P 500 rose 2.4 percent and the Nasdaq shot up 2.9 percent. It was the fourth straight monthly rally for all three. Gains in the year were led by consumer discretionary stocks, with the sector index .SPLRCD up 40.4 percent. The sectors with the slimmest gains of the year - telecom .SPLRCL, which rose 6.6 percent, and utilities .SPSMCU, up 16.5 percent - are both considered defensive groups. Among specific names, Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) was the S&P 500's biggest gainer, soaring 295.6 percent. Newmont Mining (NEM.N) was the index's biggest loser, falling 50.6 percent in 2013. Only 38 stocks in the S&P 500 ended the year in the red. Few investors expect 2014 to deliver the same scale of returns. According to the most recent Reuters equity poll, the S&P 500 is seen rising to 1,925 by the end of 2014, which represents an upside of 4.1 percent from current levels. In the corporate arena, Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ.N) surged 10.5 percent to close at $28.62 after the company said it had adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan in response to "unusual and substantial activity" it has observed in its shares. Marvell Technology Group Ltd (MRVL.O) jumped 4.5 percent to end at $14.38 after private equity firm KKR & Co LLP (KKR.N) reported a 6.8 percent stake in the chipmaker, according to a regulatory filing. Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) broke its steep two-day losing streak, gaining 5.2 percent to close at $63.65. The stock's price had tumbled 17 percent between Thursday and Monday. About 4.31 billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms, according to BATS exchange data, well below the December average of 5.89 billion shares.
Record corporate and Wall Street activity and success. So where are the right wingers who claim Mr Obama is a "socialist" and that his administration was a failure?
It is in the normal course of events for markets to recover from a recession/depression. Calvin Coolidge did virtually nothing to "help" the economy along after the depression of 1921 and yet the 20's saw an unprecedented growth. You might say "but that lead to another depression!". Causes aside, this is a specious argument because all boom periods lead to depression/recession over time, this is the economic cycle. A massive stimulus with artificially low rates leads to inflation that may be observed in goods and services or asset classes like equities or housing. It is my belief that this recovery is fueled primarily by debt and the creation of yet another bubble. Time will tell to see how this plays out, we will only know when the Fed stops easing and rates are normalized. This isn't a political discussion, it is an economic one and it should stay that way.
Why is someone "right wing" if they believe that Obama's policies are not good for the country? I'm neither right or left wing as I don't subscribe to state controlled economies. I've been through many recessions and recoveries in my life. This is the most anemic and lopsided recovery I have ever experienced. Unemployment at 7%, stagnant wages, and a declining living standard. This is good news?
That and the profits are high because that is market churning activity as opposed to actual job creation that would drive revenues down. The market is so off the historical trend lines, i fear another 9/11 type event could be more catastrophic economically than the last one.
More jobs created than under Reagan who initially caused the loss of jobs. By contrast Bush caused job losses now reversed thanks to Obama.
To repeat... Mr Truth is happy because the rich are getting richer under Barack Obama. There have been a lot of low paying, part time jobs created though... so the news isn't all bad. FOR OBAMA SO LOVED THE POOR, HE MADE MILLIONS MORE. Everybody all together now. .. *Obaaaaama*
Bubbles everywhere. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102016166 The rich investors are buying gold because they know this bubble will pop eventually. Thanks Obama.
You will be waiting for some time for a number of reasons. First, the market high is a bubble that will eventually pop. Second, actual growth is slow and companies are sitting on cash for the possible future instability. Third, Obamacare has not been in effect for companies yet so they are positioning themselves for the cost. Our company just had another layoff. Forth, they don't know what Obama will do next to hurt business.
What you are seeing is the devaluation of the USD. Market volume is not increasing and the week of 9/14 shows a trend that only the companies buy backs are keeping thier stock prices up. What is happening is the elitists are dumping the dollar and buying gold. " the number of 12.5kg gold bars being bought by wealthy customers has increased 243% so far this year" Globally washington has abused the reserve currency position like it is their birth right and the shift away from dollars is progressing like a hockey stick graph. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-...urys-bric-bonds-settlement-non-dollar-currenc Decl vol 8,263,615,734 week of 9/14
Yes, thank you Mr Obama for pumping $55 billion PER MONTH of TAXPAYER MONEY into the market to keep it artificially performing while you're still in office so that Mr_Truth will have something.... one.. single.. thing.... good to crow about. Oh! And, thank you in advance, Mr Obama, for the devastating crash that will come when you stop pumping up the market! I'm sure Mr_Truth will let us know how the Republicans are to blame. Because, he is Mr_Truth, after all.
The OP seems to be committing the usual fallacy of assuming the president controls the economy. Tons of independent actors - consumer expectations, business expectations, expectations about monetary policy, currency shocks, oil price shocks, etc. are completely independent of the president. Why are you blaming the fed? They recently said they would raise rates in the near future; in the absence of anything else this would push asset prices down (it has already hit bonds a lot). Stocks are going up because people think the economy is going to get better.
Only those who don't understand basic economics and fluctuation in currency PPI. Larger numbers doesn't mean increased value.
QE will continue and near zero interest rates will remain. The fed knows that any change would hurt the banks. Stocks are going up because the dollar is devaluing. The dollar index increae has more to do with the plummeting Japanese currency index and EU diminishing value.
Okay...look at it this way...the reason stock prices are up is because (other than commodities) it is the only place a person has any chance of making any money. Ain't no money is savings, bonds, CD's or much of anything else. And what are they going to do the next time the market drops??? lower interest rates, or borrow more money from the taxpayer? Silver is looking pretty good right about now.
What percentage of the current stock markets can be attributed to quantitative easing to the tune of $39 billion per month? QE is the same as printing money...or just providing money even when it's not printed. Stock markets have positive response when cheaper or free money is flowing to business. If you wish to believe that handing out billion$ in cheap or free money is the genius of Obama...well that's okay...
And when this happens the consumer suffers. The banks don't need to lend money from depositors anymore because the Fed. provides it. Now they can start charging people for holding on to their money. They borrow at near zero and loan at much higher rates. Once again the only ones that suffer are the ones that produce.
Fact is I doubt we have any idea what the true economy should be? We've got debt, and unfunded commitments, and deficit spending, and free money pumped into the economy, QE money has gone into the stock market, out of control spending by the government, significant inflation, etc. etc. etc. If we stopped the QE, and reduced the current $4 trillion in government spending, and were forced to eliminate deficit spending, and to begin paying down debt, IMO the economy would implode! As long as we can ignore these things, then I suppose we can claim the economy is fine...
